


Brothers Again

by ShadowHaloedAngel



Series: Camellia sinensis [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Brother Feels, Clint and Bruce as brothers (emotional not blood), Emotional Conversations, Gen, Injured Clint, M/M, Reunion, brief mentions of/references to child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-21
Packaged: 2017-12-20 21:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/892278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowHaloedAngel/pseuds/ShadowHaloedAngel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both were too confused and too reluctant to discuss their pasts, meaning an important relationship went unrecognised and ignored, before Coulson unintentionally brought them back together. But the first conversation with someone you loved like a brother so many years ago is never an easy one to have</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brothers Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flightinflame](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/gifts).



Bruce held his breath as he sat by the hospital bed. For all that he was a doctor he sometimes felt slightly uneasy in the environment. The beeping of monitors unsettled him when he had spent so much time unwillingly hooked up to one. Time as a lab rat could change how anyone thought about these things, regardless of how superficially logical they were as a person. 

It was odd to think that the figure lying crumpled and strangely small in the bed in front of him was his friend, his team mate... his brother. Not by blood, of course, but by the kind of childish promise which is still somehow so hard to break. It was a bond they shared, and Bruce didn't know how he could have missed it, were it not for how the world had wearied him and taken so much of what he once had away. 

He didn't think anyone from before would want to see him, and Clint was, by definition, from before. It had also been a few weeks, nothing more, and Bruce had sort of figured that even though it had meant a lot to him, it probably hadn't meant that much to Clint, who had the rest of his life to look forward to and enjoy and had probably gone on to great things.

Except he hadn't. He'd gone from bad to arguably worse, and ended up on the streets, selling skills of all the varying kinds he possessed to earn enough to eat. Sometimes even to sleep somewhere warm and even dry. All that time Bruce had been looking for him - he'd never stopped, not really, not until after the incident when he'd been too busy running himself - but the paper trail had gone cold with that last home Clint and Barney had absconded from. And then when they had finally found each other again, they had both been too tentative about coming forward, afraid of raising hopes too high for a case of mistaken identity, or maybe even just tarnishing an old childhood dream. Neither of them had had many of those. 

And so here he sat by his brother's bedside in a hospital room, trying to undo the damage of the last twenty two years. It was a long time, and it had changed them both, though Bruce wasn't a hundred percent sure whether those changes were for the better. Now that he knew the truth though, it was easy to see the resemblance with the boy he'd known. Clint's smile hadn't changed in all these years. It had been hard won then too, for all that it was harder now, and now Bruce understood why it always made him feel so warm in the pit of his stomach to see. 

He was more than half lost in his reverie when Clint cracked an eye open, and his lips curved up in pained mimicry of that very smile Bruce had been reflecting on. 

"Hey doc, something on your mind? Not used to seeing you round here when I wake up from something like that."

"I think I resent that. We both know that I handle most medical treatment for the team unless you manage to get yourself in a situation like this, which is a bit much for me to handle."

Bruce shot back easily, feeling the tension ease. He and Clint, for all they hadn't been close, had found it relatively easy to banter back and forth occasionally. It helped that Clint had a good relationship with Hulk. Now he had to work out how the hell to broach the subject.

"Clint... I... we need to talk..."

The archer shifted slightly among the crumpled sheets, as if trying to sit up, and the doctor in Bruce immediately moved to soothe him and keep him still. He didn't know exactly what had happened, but he was pretty sure that Clint shouldn't be moving either way. 

"Uh... yeah, sure doc, what about? Is there a problem?"

Yes, thought Bruce, the problem is me, well, was me, but that's not something I can come out and say because it'll just confuse the issue and...

"I'm your brother."

The words tumbled over each other in a rush, syllables tangling a little, and Clint stared up at him for a long moment.

"...Okay, doc, I know you speak a lot of languages, but I'm not Tasha, okay? So let's try that again in English."

"I'm your brother." it was still fast, but at least the words were almost intelligible now, "I mean, not your real brother, though, well, yes, your real brother if you want because if you want it to count, it counts for me too, but... we... met. Coulson says you weren't sure if it was me and you didn't want to ask. I thought it was you but I wasn't sure and you didn't- don't talk about your past so I didn't want to ask either, but Phil came by and we were talking and... I'm really sorry I've been such a shitty brother to you. Because I have, really, and that... you deserve better. You always did. I'm sorry that I didn't... speak up before. I should have asked. I guess I wasn't sure if it would just bring back bad memories or something. But I... um..."

"Bruce." Clint's voice was warm, and the smile was back, although it was much more the expression Bruce was used to now, and the blue-green eyes crinkled with warmth. "Uh... long time no see, I guess?"

"Yeah, yeah something like that..." Bruce's voice shook, and he tried to speak past the lump in his throat which ached to hug Clint close and protect him the way he had wanted to when they were both so much younger. 

"I was pretty sure it was you. But I figured you probably wouldn't want to know a guy like me."

"Clint of course I want to-"

"Guess I was wrong on that. Maybe we really are brothers. We certainly seem to think along the same lines. Shame they're not better ones to be thinking about."

Bruce laughed, and the lump eased a little, tears pricking in his eyes now at the feeling of sheer relief that coursed through him. 

"Yeah, something like that... I didn't... before the incident, I didn't stop looking. As soon as I was legal I tried to track you down, but the paper trail had gone cold and I don't think they tried too much to keep track of you."

"Nah, they were probably glad to be shot of the both of us."

He said it easily, but Bruce was sure he could hear an undertone of pain for a moment. Clint had never really been wanted before, other than those few weeks with Bruce, and god, he'd let him down and- no. No he couldn't think like that. What was in the past was in the past. Now he had to try to move on and see whether he and Clint could build some kind of relationship again. He sincerely hoped so.

"I doubt it. I think it was just laziness. But you know, even with the world conspiring to keep us apart... we've somehow ended up back together, that's got to be a good thing right?"

Clint's smile returned, and he gave the smallest of nods. 

"Yeah, I think so. I always wanted a brother. And Barney was shit at it. He was blood though, and he ran off without a second thought, so I guess I always figured that you had even less reason to stick around so I probably wouldn't see you again. Didn't think you'd actually remember me."

And the lump was back. Bruce swallowed a few times, trying in vain to shift it as he reached for Clint's hands, folded on top of the crisp hospital sheets.

"I never forgot you."

Clint's eyes met his, seemingly inspecting him, weighing and measuring him. After a long moment, Clint nodded slowly, and his expression eased into something resembling resigned affection.

"You know what? I don't think you did."

Bruce's smile could have lit up the whole room as he squeezed Clint's hand gently, tears burning in the back of his eyes. He nodded again, and managed a very shaky "Thank you" before the emotion overwhelmed him and his head fell forward to rest on Clint's stomach.

The archer's fingers played lightly in his hair, and Bruce fell into a light doze to the sound of Clint's voice murmuring quiet reassurance. It seemed that for once in his life at least one of his sins had been forgiven.

**Author's Note:**

> Part of my Tea for Two series, and based on a headcanon shared by myself and flightinflame about Bruce and Clint meeting in the system when they were younger.


End file.
